The Wedding of a Century
by Sandpiper
Summary: A simple wedding quickly turns ugly. Things are not as they seem.......(COMPLETE!!!!!)
1. Foreword

Foreword

Assumption is defined as something taken for granted or accepted as true without proof. Right now you're probably expecting some line about how assuming makes an "ass" out of "u" and "me", right? Well no one here is trying to preach, but the fact still remains that too many assumptions can create a mess of epic proportions as Sydney Bristow well knows.  
In movies stories such as these have definite and noticeable points where everything stems from, however in the real world you're busy living your life you don't feel a starting point because you don't yet know of the events that will follow it. It is only in looking back that you can determine them. So what is this starting point of this story? That's a very good question, some would say right after the mission in Taipei or when SD-6 was taken down, others would go back so far as to Daniel Hecht's death. Regardless of what anyone's opinion on when everything started is, they would all agree that the events of that sunny day on May 11 in a bridal boutique in downtown L.A. contributed greatly to those to come.............


	2. Chapter 1

A 

Chapter 1

"Sydney! Come on girl you promised! Now let me see it!" Francie yelled through the changing room.  
Sydney rolled her eyes before calling out her response, "Alright fine." She pulled back the curtain and stepped out.  
"Syd. That dress is so perfect on you." Amy Tippin said coming out of another room in a much shorter gown with red piping along the sides that matched the shade of her hair.   
"Both of you look great and I'm stuck here in this winged nightmare!" Francie complained, gesturing to the puffy sleeved gown she wore. Amy and Sydney laughed sympathetically.  
"The Francine Calfo official review on the gowns at Chae's Bridal Shop. I'm sure you'll make yourself popular with the owner." Will said coming up behind them.  
"What are you doing in here? You're not suppose to see the dress before the wedding!" Francie said sternly.  
"Oh come on!" Will began.  
"GET OUT!" The they said giving in a shove toward the door.  
"Alright, alright!" He gave up, leaving with an eye roll. The three women laughed, shaking their heads.  
"Well I think I'm going with this one, so I'm going to go show mom," Amy said wondering father back into the maze of changing rooms.  
"Yeah and I'm going to go change out of this thing before Will has a change to come back with his camera!" Francie said.  
"Okay sweetie," Sydney held back a giggle and the turned back into her own changing room when she caught something out of the corner of her eye.   
"Dad?" She called, hosted up the ten layers of tulle, and made her way to the front of the store where her father was, "Dad what are you doing here?"  
"Devlin needs the disk from the Cairo mission." Jack said.   
"Oh.....okay just a minute," She said heading back toward the changing room. Jack hesitated for a moment before following her.  
"I was going to give him them tomorrow," She said while rummaging through her briefcase.  
"I know, but he said he wanted the reviewed right away," Jack explained.  
"How'd you find me here?" Sydney asked.  
"Abigail Clarks told me," He explained. Abigail was a fellow teacher at San Luis, a private school for the children of visiting diplomats and foreign operatives. Sydney taught three classes a day there while still doing field work. Her missions were about two per month, a big improvement to the usual two per week at SD-6.  
"Here they are," She said finding the appropriate disk.  
"Thank you," Jack said and pocketed the disk before adding, "It looks very pretty on you."  
Sydney smiled at how awkward it was still for her father to say things like that to her. They would probably never be a Kodak moment family, but they would be there for each other to death and beyond if the other was in need.  
"Thank you," She said and sighed, "I suppose you're going to be like Francie and say I should have been wearing it years ago?"  
Jack's features stiffened. He paused for a moment before answering, "I would say that the reason you haven't worn it years ago is due to nerves and issues with commitment. There now I've said it and can't be accused of trying to talk you out of settling down for reasons of my own displeasure."  
Sydney couldn't help but giggle, "But that is is how you feel right?"  
"Absolutely," Jack said curtly, "Once someone comes a long whom I see fit to marry you, you shall know it."  
Her giggle turned into a full blown laugh at that, "Yeah that's all fine and good in theory, but I think the question to ask is not 'when will you find someone you deem fit?' it's 'does such a person exist?'"  
Jack started at her for a moment before answering, "Most likely no."  
Sydney laughed again, "Thanks, at least, for the honesty dad."  
"Hey come on this is not fair! You harpoon me about not seeing any wedding dress yet you guys go prancing around the store in them-," Will began jumping into their conversation, "Jack? Hey, how have you been?"   
"Hello Will. I heard the news, congratulations." Jack said stiffly.  
"Thanks a lot," Will said, "You're coming right?"  
"I don't know about that," Jack answered. Sydney smiled once again at his obvious discomfort. Ever since Taipei Will had considered Jack to be a friend. Jack was of course resistant to becoming close with anyone, but Sydney could tell that he respected Will's friendship.  
"Oh come on you have to. We'll get Syd here to talk you into it!" Will said, putting his arm around her shoulders to give her a light shake.  
"We'll see," Jack said, and then turned to look directly at Sydney, "I have to get back to work." He left out the front door without another word.  
"Well I'm going to go see if I can find Francie to tease some more her about that puffy dress," Will said.  
"Okay, see you later" Sydney said giving Will a smile and eye roll as he left. She turned to face herself in a full length mirror. An oppressive heaviness ran through her entire body stopping mainly at her heart. She quickly shook the feelings away. Today was not a day for depressing herself with the past, today she was shopping with her friends, today was a happy day! She told herself as she turned back toward the dressing room.  



	3. Chapter 2

She stood in a tiny room with icy cold water pouring down her body as she screamed in an abnormally high pitch. She saw herself beating desperately at the window with a fire extinguisher. As the water hit the image of Vaughn faded into darkness and was replaced by that of a phantom. Its featureless face slowly contemplated her before lashing out to sink it's jaws into her bicep.  
She startled awake, heart racing, abdominal muscles painfully tight, and teeth chattering. She reached over and wrapped the big fluffy comforter tightly around herself. She glanced over at the bedside clock. 2:45. It was officially the 12th. The dream occurred much less frequently but would always come back in May. Sometimes on the day, sometimes before, sometimes after, but always at least once. It was constant, always the same every time. Barnett had convinced Sydney to tell her about it once. Her analysis was that it was due underlying feelings of guilt, and that the phantom represented how her past kept coming back to haunt her.   
'I could have told you that!' Sydney thought to herself. Needless to say that was the last time she ever went to a session. The shivering subsided, but a deep penetrating cold remained. A cold that even the warmest of blankets could not reach. 'The cold of death' she once said in her mind, and was immediately sickened by the description. Death appeared so often in her life. Why should she not begin to feel it?  
She whipped away a tear, marveling at no matter how no matter much she moved on the dream and the cold always came back. The emotions it stirred up within her would never go away. They were still there as strong as ever...........even after four years.


	4. Chapter 3

She woke up the next morning from a cramp in her neck. Her alarm clock had not gone off and she was about 45 minutes late. She threw on some clothes and ran out the door without even getting in a shower. For the next four hours she felt frazzled and disgusting. Once all of her classes were finally over she was so desperate for a shower that she went home for a quick one before her meeting with Devlin.  
When she rushed into Devlin's office after breaking every traffic law in existence to get there on time his secretary gave her a confused look and said, "Didn't you get the message we sent?"  
"What message?" Sydney asked.  
"Something came up the required Mr. Devlin's immediate attention, so your debriefing has been rescheduled for next Tuesday," she explained.  
The good news in that was that she was on schedule for the first time that day. She stopped at the ladies room for a moment to regain herself. As she was splashing some water on her face her purse toppled over spilling the contents onto the floor. She sighed and began picking them up when a stall door swung open, hitting her in the head.  
"Ouch! Damn it!" She swore in exasperation, and looked up to glare at whoever had opened the door.  
Dr. Barnett smiled widely at her, "Sydney, hello."  
'Oh great! This is just what I need!' she thought to herself before responding, "Hello, Dr. Barnett. How are you?"  
"I'm good, and how are you?" Barnett answered following Sydney back over to the sinks.  
"Very well, thank you," Sydney responded tensely.  
"You seem stressed," She commented, looking at Sydney questioningly. Sydney fought the urge to tell her to mind her own freaking business. 'She's just doing her job Syd. Give the woman a break!'  
"I'm fine, doctor. Just running a little late today," She said.  
"Hmm.......well if you ever need to talk about anything my door is always open," Dr. Barnett said.  
"I'll keep that in mind," Sydney muttered sarcastically as she walked out the door.  
The rest of the day involved battling traffic while picking up her outfit for the rehearsal dinner that night, dropping off invitations at the post office, and buying the groceries she promised Francie she would. She got done with the groceries shopping at about dusk.  
"That's an awful lot to eat for a little thing like you," a man commented from behind her in the parking lot.  
Sydney whirled around to rip into whoever said that, but was stopped by a familiar laugh, "You should have seen your face."  
"Don't start, I'm not in the mood," She warned.  
"Bad day?" He asked.  
"The worst," She said.  
"Aww poor Syd," He said as helped her load the bags into the trunk of her car. Once all the bags were in he slammed the trunk shut and sat down on it, whipping sweat from his forehead, "God it's hot today! Aren't you hot in that?"  
She looked down at her olive turtleneck, but made no attempt to answer. He didn't wait around to hear one anyway, jumping off the car and straitening himself up to stretch his back. An action which earned him plenty of attention from a group of bikini clad teens in the flatbed of a passing pickup truck. Sydney rolled her eyes at their indiscrete leers, although she couldn't blame them. She'd never made it a point to look before, but upon doing so it was obvious that one would say the man standing in front of her fell short in the looks department. Tan skin and sun highlighted hair always demanded attention, not to mention soft green eyes. 'I used to know someone with eyes like that.' She swore to herself. This was definitely not working to improve her mood any.  
"Well I have to get home to change before the rehearsal," she said.  
"Yeah, I'm on my way there now," he nodded.  
"You're wearing that to the rehearsal?" she asked, indicating to his surfer get up.  
"Yes," He said as if it were obvious, "I'd wear this to the wedding if I could."  
She shook her head, "Whatever you say."  
"Hey you know what we should do?" He said, as she headed toward the drivers seat, "We should play hooky"  
"Play hooky?" She repeated questioningly.  
"Yeah, you, Francie, and I. We leave after the rehearsal.....go to a movie or something. We can let Will and Amy deal with their rehearsal dinner," He suggested.  
"Chase, all I can say to you and Amy is 'good luck'," she said sarcastically. He grinned back at her as she pulled out of the parking space. 

It was only about 9:00 when the rehearsal dinner started, but she was already exhausted. Though she smiled her way through most of the night for appearances sake.  
"Did you see the rehearsal?" One of Will's aunts asked his mother, "It was so amazing I can't imagine what the actual wedding will be like."  
"Yes, double wedding no less!" Patsy Tippin said shaking her head.  
"Well think of it as having to pay for one big wedding rather than two smaller ones," Sydney joked.  
"Right, Sydney," they agreed. Sydney laughed as she went back and sat down at her table.   
"Amy I want you to meet someone. This is my cousin, remember I told you about him?" She heard Chase say behind her.  
"Oh yeah the one who......ummm, never mind," Amy stumbled over her words.  
"It's okay. Everyone's going to have to be able to talk about it eventually. It's very nice to meet you Amy," A familiar voice responded. Sydney froze.  
"Nice to meet you too," Amy said, "Let's see um, I don't see Will around anywhere."  
"Her brother Will, he's the one we're doubling with," Chase explained.  
"Yeah, yeah," The same voice said, "Well....congratulations to you both."  
Sydney shut her eyes and shook her head several times. 'Don't do this Syd! You know it's not possible.'  
She opened her eyes again and clenched her hands into fists. 'For God sake! This is the reason you haven't been able to go on with your life before!'  
In spite of her common sense screaming at her, she turned slowly in her chair to see Chase and Amy talking with..............a tall man with black hair. She turned back around and sighed.  
"What the hell did you expect?" she murmured into her gin and tonic before gulping down the last of the it and crunching the ice with her teeth. Out of the corner of her eye she saw a flash of someone disappearing out through the foyer. Her spy instincts kicked in immediately as she surveyed the room for anything else suspicious looking. Nothing. She casually got up and headed for the front door. The parking lot showed nothing out of the ordinary at first until a slight movement from an SUV across the street attracted her attention. She crept over to it in the shadows of the street lamps. After taking a moment to draw the miniature pistol in her purse and brace herself, she grabbed the door handle and flung it open.  
"Oh my god........" 

Okay, okay I know you guys are loosing patience with me. I promise that the question of whether Syd is marrying Will will be answered in the next chapter. Which will be done very soon.


	5. Chapter 4

Okay for those who are confused.......the guy in the last chapter, Chase, was Amy Tippin's fiancé. Sorry for not being more clear on that. 

"Oh my god!" Sydney exclaimed turning away and quickly shoving the gun back in her purse. Will had known since Taipei, and after The Alliance was taken down Sydney had come clean to everyone else about working for the CIA, but it was still awkward to pull a gun on her friends in parking lot. "Sam, Will......I am so sorry."  
"Syd-" Will began uncertainly, blush covering his cheeks.  
"Syd, are you okay?" Samantha asked, pulling her blouse back onto her shoulders.  
"Yeah," Sydney said, swearing to herself. 'Of course Will and his fiancé have every right to make out in their own car idiot!'  
"Are you sure?" Will asked touching her arm lightly.  
"Yes it's just-" She started  
"Hey there you are!" Francie yelled, jogging over to join them, "Oh my! Will, honey, that shade of lipstick does nothing for you"  
Syd and Francie grinned as they watched both blush again and Will rub it away furiously with the sleeve of his shirt.  
Francie shook her head, "Now this is not fair! You're out here doing god knows what while Syd and I here are playing hostesses at your rehearsal dinner, running your errands, and helping you try on hideous wedding dresses?"   
"Oh yeah right! Like you guys didn't love trying on those dresses!" Sam laughed.  
"Oh we sure loved it alright. Engaged person throws it in her friends faces that they're still single. Tons of fun!" Francie said as they started back toward the party.  
"Well both of you shouldn't be single.....especially you Syd!" Sam said.  
"Oh god! If you're going to bring that up again, I'm definitely going to need another drink!" Sydney groaned.  
"Well I hate to tell you this Sydney, but she does sort of have a point." Francie said.  
"What?" Sydney exclaimed.  
"See?" Sam said, "I mean come on! What was up with that?"  
"I had my reasons! Besides it's not like for woman's life to be full she has to be married or attached to a man somehow. What is this 1940?" Sydney ranted, going into liberated feminist mode.  
Sam looked at her, "You're in a mood."  
She sighed, "I'm sorry, I'm just not feeling all that well today."  
"Oh I'm sorry," Sam said sympathetically. Will and Francie simply exchanged knowing glances. She sighed again, obviously they'd noticed this before. Oh well....they could assume whatever they wanted.  
Once the party was over Francie headed strait back to their place, Sydney excused her self saying that she'd be home later. She got in her car and headed to the place that, since her 2nd year at SD-6, she could always go for some time alone..... the pier.   
The night was as peaceful as ever. A cool breeze that lightly disturbed her hair, the rhythmic crashing of waves, and a clear sky that showed the few stars strong enough to shine over the bright lights of Los Angeles. Sydney smiled a genuine smile for the first time that day, and made her way to her favorite spot. Someone else was already standing there. Sydney groaned inwardly, even though it wasn't her really her own personal spot it felt that way sometimes. She walked a little closer than stopped, the person standing there looked like......'No Syd! You are not going to do this three times in one night!' she told herself firmly, and walked past him to another part of the pier. She looked out at the dark ocean trying to relax, but still felt unsettled.  
"Oh, for heaven's sake!" she muttered under her breath. Then turned around, stalked over to the man, and reached up to his shoulder to turn him around. There were few things could actually surprise Sydney very much. This was an exception. She couldn't even think, so she just stood there with an expression of shock etched across her face.   
Neither of them spoke for what seemed like an eternity, until finally he whispered in an almost imperceptibly soft voice, "Hi." 


	6. Chapter 5

She stood speechless for a little while longer, until her brain finally reminded her that it was her turn to say something. The problem was that in all of the languages she spoke fluently she couldn't remember a single word. Finally she regained her thinking ability enough to repeat his words, "Hi."  
She cleared her throat and started again, "What are you doing here?"  
His brow furrowed and he shrugged, "It's a nice place to come to think."  
"Maybe I should rephrase that." She said her voice more steady now, "What are you doing alive?"  
He looked back out over the rail for a second before answering, "I didn't know if Devlin told you."  
"Told me what?" She asked.  
"I didn't actually die in Taipei," He responded.  
She was in no mood for games. "Really? I had no idea!"  
"Sorry, I only just arrived in L.A. this morning. It was about a month ago when they rescued me." He said.  
"From where?" She asked in a much gentler tone.  
"A Taiwanese prison. I got out of the lab after the tidal wave, but I was later captured by......by The Man," he said after giving her a cautious look.  
She nodded, "My mother, I know."  
He studied her for a moment before continuing, "They held me for a while, I think it was a three maybe four months. Then once they were satisfied that they weren't going to get any more information out of me, they decided to just throw me into this prison instead of executing me. Don't ask me why."  
Sydney listened intently while he was talking, "How long were you in there?"  
"I don't really know," He admitted, "But from what I've heard it must have been at least three years."  
Three years, she couldn't imagine. "Vaughn.....I'm so sorry," She whispered.  
"It wasn't your fault Syd," He said.  
"How did you get out?" She asked.  
"There was a riot. A few of the inmates took over control of the prison, so the Taiwanese government sent the army in to retake control. Once they found me there they contacted the CIA, and had an extraction team come get me," He said, "They kept me at Langley for a while to go through trauma evaluation and reintroduction into society."  
"Wow," She said leaning onto the rail, "I don't really know what to say."  
"Me neither to be honest.....it's really odd seeing all these people who thought you were dead for so long," He said.  
"Well, I was certainly surprised to see you," She responded.  
"Really? I didn't notice," He said, his eyes twinkling playfully.  
She laughed, then fought back tears that threatened to spill over her eyes. "Vaughn, I-" She started, but was interrupted by her cell phone ringing.   
"Hello?"  
"Syd? Hey, are you alright?"  
"Francie?" She asked.  
"Yeah," Francie said.  
"What's the matter?" Sydney asked.  
"I was worried about you! You were acting so weird at the party, and then you said you'd be right home but it's been half an hour!" Francie said, her voice getting louder with each word.  
Sydney glanced at her watch. Indeed it had been that long. "Francie I'm sorry, I just went for a drive to think and lost track of time. I'm fine really."  
"Are you sure?" Francie asked again.  
"Yeah, I'm fine. I'll be home soon sweetie. Bye," She responded and hung up the phone, "Sorry.....Francie." Vaughn smiled faintly and nodded.   
"I should get home before she has a heart attack," Sydney said and then hesitated. They didn't work together anymore so after leaving here there would be no reason to see each other again. She didn't want their first meeting in four years to be 'Hi, glad to see you with a pulse. Have a nice life.'  
"Listen umm......I think.....I mean......we should......" She stammered. 'Dear God, when did I turn into Marshall?', "I.....I don't want to just, just walk away."  
She rolled her eyes at herself, 'Oh sure, **that **made a lot of sense.'  
He nodded, "I know Syd. I understand.......I'm happy to see you too."  
She smiled, "You still owe me that hockey game."  
He smiled back, "You remember that?"  
"Of course I remember that," She said, "when have you known me to forget things?"  
He laughed for the first time that night. Something about it made her extremely happy, "Well I may have to wait a little while longer. Hockey season's over."  
"Oh well," She shrugged, then got serious again, "We should talk more about everything that's happened though."  
He nodded, "Yeah you're right we should. There's lots of bureaucratic protocol I have to go through to come dead though."  
She frowned at the mention of the word 'dead', but nodded, "Yeah, I'm pretty busy too. There's a coffee shop on the other side of here, we could meet there on Friday."  
"Okay, I'll see you then," He said. She nodded and stood place, not wanting to break their gaze.   
"Well I better, go. Um.......bye." She said. She walked away quickly, knowing that if she hesitated for even a second she would probably go running strait back.  
"Bye," He whispered after her disappearing form.


	7. Chapter 6

For the rest of the night her feelings went from happy, to numb, to awkward, to angry at the CIA for not telling her immediately, and back around again. Finally she got so exhausted by all of it that she simply went to bed emotionless. She was still emotionless the next morning when her father called to break the news to her that 'Agent' Vaughn was alive.   
She spent the rest of the week going through the motions of her normal routine, pretending that she wasn't looking forward to when she would see Vaughn again. Finally Friday rolled around, it was her day off teaching, instead she spent Fridays working at the CIA office. She managed to get about an hour worth of work done before she was called into Devlin's office to review her last mission. Apparently he found some time to see her before Tuesday. All in all it lasted five hours. The first 30 minutes were spent waiting outside his office, for the next hour and a half they discussed the previous mission, when her next assignment would be, she had to remind him yet again it would have to wait for a couple of weeks until after Will's wedding.   
She ran into her father outside Devlin's office. They discussed new information on her mother, as they always did when meeting at work. Sydney had escaped from Irina in Taipei, and the CIA had been on her trail ever since. A trail which seemed to get colder by the day. After meeting her mother in person, Sydney understood why Jack didn't want Irina to be found, though she still felt a need to find her mother, if only to bring her to justice.  
At the end of their meeting Jack tried to bring up something about Vaughn coming back, then quickly decided against it. Just as she thought she was home free Barnett caught her, and passed on an official order from Devlin for her and Weiss to be evaluated. She sat in a chair outside Barnett's office while Weiss met with her, then was called in herself. She stiffly answered all of the questions Barnett had for her. Giving away only what she thought was pertinent information for the CIA. Next Barnett called both Weiss and Sydney in for a joint session, in which they discussed Weiss's friendship with Vaughn and how they felt about him being Sydney's handler after Taipei.   
Once everything was done she dragged herself back to their office just long enough to pick up her brief case and say goodnight to Dixon. She slipped into a hot bath and relaxed at home for the rest of the afternoon. She thought several times about what exactly she would say to Vaughn when she saw him. The first time it had been such a shock that she could barely think, and since then, for the sake of her sanity, she had immersed herself in work to avoid thinking about the next time they met. Fortunately, Francie was working at the restaurant that evening, so she wouldn't have to go through a big inquisition that would only make her more nervous.  
When she arrived at the coffee shop, he was already waiting for her there. 'As always,' she thought to herself. Their initial greeting was awkward. In situations where they met in public she was used to coming up beside him and talking out of the corners of her mouth. Even though those days were long past it still felt odd to go right up to each other and make eye contact. They ordered two lattes, and took them over to where their cars were parked in an isolated, far away, corner of the parking lot. Even though it was no longer a danger for them to be seen in public, the things the were going to be discussing was not information that civilians in a coffee shop needed to overhear.   
"So how have you been doing?" she asked.  
"I'm adjusting," he answered.  
She nodded, "You seem.......more comfortable now than you did at the pier."  
"Yeah, listen I'm sorry about that, I was a little out of it that night," He apologized.  
"It's okay really, I understand," she quickly said and then chuckled, "I mean I recognized you before I even came over, but I knew it was impossible, and I already thought I was losing it after I heard your voice at the rehearsal dinner."  
He started down at the ground for a minute. "I didn't know if you were there that night or not," He said.  
She nodded, "Yeah I was."  
He nodded back, but made no response. She felt a sudden cold sweep over her and wished that she'd brought along a jacket. She clutched her cup tighter and shivered lightly.  
"Are you okay?" Vaughn asked.  
"Yeah, just cold," she responded.  
"You're cold?" he laughed questioningly.  
She snorted, "I can tell you're related to Chase. He loves to rip at me about feeling cold in the summer!"  
He looked thoughtful for a second, "Well I think I have a jacket in the trunk if you want it."  
He didn't actually wait for a response before sliding off the hood and heading around to the trunk. A different kind of shiver ran through her at the thought of wearing Vaughn's jacket, also it seemed so domestic. She struggled to not smile too much as she thanked him for the jacket and pulled it on.  
"So.......how do you know him?" He asked hesitantly.  
"You mean Chase?" Sydney asked, "He works with Will. It's a long story. Will wrote a story about SD-6 and gave it to his editor before he was kidnapped. Dad pulled it just before it was published, but Will ended up getting fired. He eventually got a job at anther newspaper, and became good friends with Chase. So good in fact that he's now marrying Will's sister."  
Vaughn nodded. He had made the connection quickly when he heard the name of who Chase was marrying. He wondered at the time how it had come to happen that his cousin was marrying the sister of a man who had a connection with Sydney. It now seemed to be simply coincidence.   
Sydney sat silently for a few moments before changing the subject, "So how did everything go with Devlin?"  
"Just fine. They're going to let me start again as soon as I can..........though I hear I'll have quite a few new colleagues to meet." he said looking directly at her, "Congratulations about SD-6."  
"Well....it wasn't just me. I mean The Alliance slowly started the crumble. When they finally fell permanently all the sections just followed suit," She explained.   
"I read the official report. You did a lot more to make it possible than you think.......I'm proud of you Syd," He said.  
His eyes were so deep with emotion that she actually felt herself blush lightly. "Thank you," she simply said for lack of anything better. What response could you possibly give when someone said something that touching to you? She downed the last of her coffee and hopped off the hood to stretch. "Well I guess it's getting kind of late."  
"Yeah," he agreed and also stood up. They stood looking at each other for a moment.  
"So um...I'll see you around again, sometime soon?" she asked.  
He looked down for a brief second, then met her eyes and nodded, "Yeah."  
She nodded back and felt tears falling down her cheeks before she had a chance to stop them. She sniffled lightly, "Vaughn, I really missed you. I spent four years thinking I'd never see you again-"  
He showed an equally pained expression, "I missed you too, Syd."  
She stepped forward and wrapped her arms around him. He returned the embrace, lightly stroking her back. "I'm not going anywhere now, though."  
She nodded. She believed it. For so long he had been simply a memory, a photo in a file marked "Missing: Presumed Dead", a cause that all hope had been given up on. Now he felt like something real, an actual living person. She never thought that she would see him ever again, and here she was with him now. That fact made her feel bold and free. She allowed herself to lay hear head on his shoulder, and feel the life flowing through him in his scent, in the feel of his arms around her, in the rhythm of his heat beating through his chest.   
They finally broke their hug and pulled back, but kept a light hold on each other. Both of them searched for something to say, finding nothing. Sydney looked up into his eyes for a second. Her inhibitions crumbled as she made a split second decision, she leaned up and their lips met for one precious moment before he gently pulled away..........


	8. Chapter 7

"Sydney, what are you doing?"  
Her brain had been clouded by a rose colored haze from the moment she decided to kiss him, so to her that question seemed like possibly the dumbest one on earth. Wasn't it obvious what she was doing? It took actually looking in strait in the face to realize what he had meant at which point the ground fell out from underneath her. Recited every curse word in every language she had ever known inside her head. Finally she realized that he was still standing there expecting an answer. She opened her mouth to speak, but her throat became painfully tight. 'Come on, Syd! It doesn't have to be clever it just has to be words!!!!!' She yelled at herself.  
"I............I'm sorry...........I just thought...........I made a mistake......ummm......I better get going," she managed to choke out, before hurrying to her car, keeping her eyes on the ground the whole time. He made no move to stop her. 

Sydney drove home and walked up the path to her house.  
"Hey, girl. How are you?" Francie asked as the came in the door.  
"I'm good," Sydney responded looking off into nowhere.  
"Are you sure? You're acting strange." Francie said, eyeing her questioningly.  
"Yeah.....I'm going bed," She said and slowly walked into her bedroom and shut the door, leaving Francie staring after her confused. She changed into her pajamas and crawled into bed, all the time her thoughts were a million miles away. She had never felt so embarrassed in her life. Of all the scenarios she had imagined, that one was not included. She felt a little confused about why he had pulled away. 'There were plenty of reasons. You just assumed he felt the same way you did, there was absolutely to proof of that fact.' she thought to herself. On the other hand, she had been so sure.........  
'Why? Because he bought you a Christmas gift? Well newsflash it was four years ago and besides that, men give their mothers picture frames as gifts! It was simply nice gesture, but no, it must mean something more? What are you in Jr. High?!' the dark side of her mind argued cruelly. Sydney glanced over at her nightstand. The frame was resting there, it mocked her telling her that she was an overly dramatic fool. She groaned and angrily knocked it onto the floor.  
She shook her head. There had to be some other reason, even though some people would argue that she was just kidding herself, she felt that it had to be more complicated than just that he wasn't interested. After all their lives were extremely complicated. They both worked for the CIA, up until recently were agent and handler, her mother killed his father................her mother killed his father. Could that be it? Maybe. So what all of that stuff he said about her not being responsible for her mother's actions was just bull? No, he meant it at the time, but perhaps being imprisoned for three years by said mother might have served to change his mind.   
'Ugh, damn him! No actually, damn me! Damn me for feeling his way about him!' She thought to herself. She figured she might as well admit now what Barnett, Weiss, and probably even her dad already suspected.......she loved him. They worked together for that first year, but it wasn't until after Taipei that she really fell hard. Unfortunately her realization had come after he was swept away by the circumference. Like in the Joni Mitchell song "don't it always seem go to that you don't you what you've got till it's gone", well that certainly rang true for Sydney. It was that reason that had caused her to never really get over his death. It was different even than with Danny. Danny had known how she felt about him, Vaughn hadn't.  
'Not that he would have cared, he made that obvious tonight' she thought to herself. She suddenly felt so stupid and pathetic. She spent four years pining for someone who would never come back, well now he had come back and it turned out that her feelings couldn't be more misplaced. She shuddered as the memory of John came back yet again.   
John Pierce, he was a columnist for a literary review whom she dated for almost three years. Her and John were, well to describe in it in the simplest of ways.....perfect for each other. They were compatible in what interests they shared, what interests they differed in, what they agreed on, what they disagreed on, they were simply able to live with each other so well. They fought of course, but beneath even their worst of arguments there was always the feeling that they both knew things would get better eventually. From the very beginning everyone got the vibe that their relationship was not only strong, but would be permanent. They discussed marriage quite a few times, however she always was of the attitude that they were happy in their lives right then so they had no need to get married simply to prove that their love was strong. However, five months ago he pulled out the big guns. He took her to dinner for their anniversary, and got down on his knees and proposed right in the middle of the restaurant. It was a proposal and as well as a veiled ultimatum. Either we're committed fully to this, or we get out before it goes any further. She knew that out was really her only choice, after all she had no problem saying yes to Danny, obviously something was not right if she was having so much trouble saying yes to John. So after what seemed like a lifetime together, they ended it in one night. It was one of the few times in her life that she felt certain that she was making the right decision. Though, she had probably been the only one who thought so. Jack was about the only person that didn't tell her she was an idiot for turning John down. He told he was sorry to hear that they broke up, but she knew it was relieved more than anything. Her father had hated John, as he had every man in her life since she was twelve.  
She sighed, that was all pretty much irrelevant now. It was in the past even if she did regret it, which in all honesty she didn't. She climbed out of bed, went over and picked up the picture frame, carefully dusting it off and putting it back on it's place on her nightstand. Every thing was irrelevant now. Regardless of what Vaughn's feelings for her may have been at once, things had changed between, and regardless of how much she disliked it, she did not know where things would go from here. She got back into bed and stared back over at the frame. 'I will not cry....' she repeated over and over again like a mantra as she forced herself into sleep. 

**Aww, we went from yummy kissing goodness to all angsty. :( I even made myself depressed. Hehe, don't worry though, I promise there will be a happy ending eventually.** 


	9. Chapter 8

Vaughn trudged up the steps of his mother's bed and breakfast and into usual warm and homey feeling of the house.   
"Michael is that you?" he her mother call from the other room. He deposited his keys on the hall table and found her in the living room, curled up in an easy chair watching Arsenic and Old Lace.   
"Yeah, it's mom," he said.  
She turned to face at him and her smile faded into a confused expression, "Are you okay?"  
"Yeah, I'm fine," he responded.  
She looked at him skeptically then decided from his demeanor that she wasn't going to get anything out of her son that night. She hated it. After going through the awful experience of loosing a child, only to have the report of his death to be false, she would have liked it if he had told her everything he went through so she could take care of him and help him recover, but realized that it didn't exactly work that way for a grown man. So she resigned herself to waiting until he was ready to talk to her, "Okay then. You got some mail, it's on the bookcase behind you."  
"Thanks, I'm going to bed. Goodnight," He said, grabbing the envelope on the way out.  
"Goodnight," she called after him.  
He trudged up to the room he was staying in until he found a new apartment, his old one having been rented out years ago. He glanced at the big envelope, before dumping it onto the dresser. It was from work, no doubt copies of the medical and psychiatric records from Langley, memos about returning to work, and probably an order from Devlin to see Barnett on a regular basis. Everything he was not in the mood to deal with at the moment.  
He laid down on the bed and stared at the ceiling. She kissed him. Sydney Bristow kissed him. He shook his head, still confused about that. It seemed so unlike her. He wondered if maybe he should have said something to her before she ran off, but he didn't know exactly what. I took every ounce of will power to move away, when all he had wanted was to hold her as close and kiss her senseless. The situation was perfect, she had even made the first move so later consequences couldn't be blamed on him, it had been perhaps his only change to make her realize just how much he cared about her, longed for her......loved her. As tempting as it was though he could never do something like that to her, knowing that she would regret it later.  
He felt bad enough about lying to her. The night they met on the pier had not been the day he arrived in L.A., it was the day before. After being home for the first time in years he wouldn't just start his life over again, and then think about Sydney later. She had called him guardian angel once, but for three years it had been her that watched over him. There were some moments when the hope of seeing her again was all that got him through. When they finally released him from the hospital at Langley he caught the first flight he could get to Los Angeles. As far as he knew she still lived in the same house, though her car was not there when he arrived Her roommate got in the car and left shortly after. He followed just on the hope that she was going to meet Sydney. He lost the car in traffic for short time, but eventually found it parked in front of a bridal shop. He didn't even have to get out of the car, he could see them through the window. Sydney in a wedding dress talking to Jack, and Will Tippin standing with his arm around her. They looked so natural together, casual almost.  
He only went to the rehearsal dinner the next day for Chase, since they had been close in college and he had begged him to go to meet Amy. So he went long enough to meet Amy and then leave without really bothering to talk to anyone else or even look around. It really threw him off when Sydney showed up at the pier later that night. Their conversation was brief, but they did arrange to meet again. Having a week to think everything over was good for him, it gave him time to decided that when he did meet her he would be as mature about it as he could. After all it had been four years since he saw her last and it they were never really together in the first place, so it was only natural that she had gone on with her life. He wasn't surprised that it was Will, he always knew that Will was special to Sydney. She was the one that suggested they talk, so she obviously still wanted to know him. It was at least something, and besides if he really loved her he would want her to be happy.  
The night had gone okay, he was even sticking pretty well to his resolution about being happy for Sydney. That is until the end, which brought them back to the kiss. Why had she done that? He knew she would never do something like that to someone he loved, especially Will. It didn't make any sense at all. Maybe he was missing something there? Could she not really want to marry Will? No, if that were true she wouldn't agreed to in the first place. Sydney was not the type to lead people on.   
'Okay, Mike. Think about this logically,' he told himself.   
He avoided running into her at the rehearsal dinner since he knew she would be there, but she somehow showed up at the pier later. Probably just coincidence, she seemed as surprised to see him as he had her. While they talked over coffee earlier, he had waited for her to bring up the topic of Will, figuring it would be better that way, but she never did.................and then she kissed him.   
The only explanation he could come up with was that perhaps his reappearance after four years had confused her emotions. After all she seemed horrified when he pulled away Maybe she was just then realizing what exactly she was doing, and what the repercussions would be. It was far fetched, yes, but much less far fetched than everything else that came to mind. He sighed, regardless of what the reason, the bottom line was that things had changed between them, and he didn't know where anything would go now. 

**OHHH! That was so stupid! :( :( :( I thought I could pull this story off, but it is not going well is it? Should I just ditch it before I make it even worse?** 


	10. Chapter 9

CRASH!!!!!! 

Sydney jolted awake and raced out of her room with a surge of adrenaline. She sighed with relief when she got to the kitchen and saw Francie sweeping up scrambled eggs off the floor while Will and Samantha looked on amusedly.   
Francie looked up from the floor to glare at them, "Morning, Syd."  
"Morning, hon," She replied.  
"Oh great, you're awake!" Will said turning toward her, "Will you please tell Francie that she is lucky to have friends to come over for breakfast on weekends?" She looked at him with an eyebrow raised and just laughed.   
"See I told you so!" Francie said, "We cook you guys breakfast, we practically plan your wedding, and in three days you guys get to march down the isle to live happily ever after mooching off of your friends."  
"Sounds good to me," Samantha said in a teasing tone.   
"Yep," Will agreed, pulling her down into his lap to plant a kiss on her. Francie rolled her eye, and Sydney, being in very unromantic mood, turned her head away toward the coffee maker.   
"Oh yeah I've been meaning to ask, are you guys up for shopping with me and Amy today?"  
"I would rather watch paint dry," Will said laughing, which earned him a slap on the arm from Sam.  
Sydney plastered on a big fake smile and said, "Sure, I'm game." 

In the fifteenth baby powder scented dress shop with periwinkle draperies they visited that day, she plopped down in one of the plush satin chairs wishing nothing more than to go home, or better yet go on a mission. Nothing like danger to get your mind off the crazy thoughts that came with making an ass of yourself by kissing your ex-handler. Such as how much she would love to trap him a dark corner of the CIA parking garage.........where no one could hear him scream.  
"Hey, what you doing over here? I thought you'd be over with Sam, Amy, and Fran." Chase said coming over to take a seat in the chair next to her.  
"Oh, nothing," she said, 'just doing some homicidal plotting.', "What are you doing here? I figured this would be the last thing you'd want to tag along on."  
He frowned, "I actually wanted to ask you something,"  
"Okay, what's up?" She asked.  
"At the CIA, is there any way maybe get information without one of their agents knowing?" he asked hesitantly.   
Sydney felt her spine stiffen, "You mean about your cousin, right?"  
A look of surprise registered in his eyes, "Yeah, how did you know that?"  
"Ummm........I heard about it at work," She said, "and I, I remembered overhearing your conversation at the rehearsal dinner." She felt really stupid for just blurting out that she knew Vaughn was his cousin, and even worse about her excuse. SD-6 had been taken down and she was still lying.  
"Oh," Chase said, "Well you see they just suddenly told us that he was alive not where he'd been or anything, and Mike.........he won't tell anyone what happened."  
"Really?" She asked, hiding her surprise. He told her but no one else? That didn't make any sense.  
"No, and I know it's really hard on my aunt so I wondered if I could find out some more about it to help her," He said hopefully.  
"Chase, I can't disclose information like that," She said.  
"I know, Syd, I know! It's just........well, it would help me too," He said, the pain evident in his voice.   
Great! Now she was torn between her own annoyance and wanting to help if she could. She sighed, "It was an accident on a mission."  
"What kind of accident?" He asked.  
"You know I can't tell you that," she said, "but I'm sure it was hard on him, I know it was hard on the other agent involved....."  
"Hey!" Francie, Amy, and Samantha called as they came over to join them.  
"Well I think we're done here, so why don't we go pick up Will and grab some drinks?" Sam suggested, everyone immediately agreed that it was a spectacular idea.  
"Yeah that sounds good, I just have go to the bathroom first," Sydney said heading off toward the back of the store.  
"Hey, is Sydney okay? She seems to be acting strange," Samantha said.  
"She seemed fine to me," Chase said, "but then again I'm not the most perceptive person on earth."  
"Well no arguments there!" Amy teased.  
"I don't know Sam........," Francie answer thoughtfully then laughed, ".....she's probably nauseous from seeing you and Will all over each other all the time! Noticed she turned away after your little display over breakfast this morning!"  
Francie and Chase laughed as Samantha glared at them, Amy however was puzzled.  
"She did?" She asked, however Sydney returned just before Francie had a chance to answer.  
"Okay, ready to go?" Sydney said cheerfully.  
"Yeah," Everyone said. Amy let Chase take her hand and lead her out of the store, but meanwhile wheels were turning underneath her cherry Kool-Aid hair. 

Three swift knocks on the door broke Vaughn's attention from the book he was engrossed in.  
"Mrs. Vaughn can Mikey come out and play?" a voice called through the door.  
"Come on in," Vaughn called, laughing to himself.  
Eric Weiss opened the door grinning, his playful expression immediately fell into one of shock when he took in his surrounding. "Jesus Christ! This was your room as kid?" he laughed.  
"No," Vaughn answered, but Eric was too far gone into teasing to listen.  
"Real manly, Mike. Spend a lot of time with your grandma maybe?" Weiss said picking up an embroidered pillow off the foot of the bed.  
Vaughn sighed and shook his head, "So did actually come here for a reason?"  
"Yes, as a matter fact I did," Weiss said unceremoniously dumping the pillow onto the floor, "Come on, I'm taking you out for drinks."  
"No thanks, Eric, I'm really not in the mood," he said turning back to the book.  
"Come on man this is the first time you've been home in four years, you know we've got to out drinking." Weiss said as if it were a law, "Hey you blew me off last night, you at least owe me this one!"  
"I did not blow you off, I told you I had other plans," Vaughn argued. He hadn't mentioned exactly what the other plans were, since he would have most likely received first teasing and then a lecture about her wedding if Weiss knew he was meeting Sydney.  
"Oh yeah? Like what? Doing more needle point?" Weiss chuckled, "Michael listen off your damn lazy ass and come get drunk with me, now!"  
Vaughn sighed, obviously Eric was not going to take no for an answer. "Alright, alright," He finally agreed. 


	11. Chapter 10

"Here's to a happy future for everyone and to next week being the wedding of a century!" Francie said winking the two couples and holding her tequila up in salute.  
Amy raised her glass next, "Here's to friends going out getting drunk together!"   
"Here's to us deciding not to go to that karaoke bar!" Samantha said.  
"I'll definitely drink to that," Sydney agreed clinking her shot glass with everyone else's.  
"Okay this will probably turn out to be one of the dumbest things I've ever said, but I think we need to a have a contest," Will said standing up to line up shot glasses on the table, "Chase, you in man?"  
He laughed and stood up too, "Hell yes!"  
"Okay! Who else?" Will asked looking around.  
"Count me out of this one, honey," Sam said laughing. Will turned to Sydney and held his hand out to her like he was asking her to be his partner at a square dance.  
She laughed, "No way!"  
"Oh come on, quit being babies!" Will and Chase complained.   
"Alright! I'm in." Sydney announced standing up. Her smile quickly faded with a glance across the room though. She was actually starting to fun and forget about her problems, when suddenly they walked in door. She scowled crossly. Fate was obviously out to torment her. 

"Okay, you are not going to tell me you haven't missed this!" Eric said.  
Vaughn smiled, "Okay, I did miss this.......you were right."  
"Damn strait! Here's to coming back from the dead." Weiss toasted and took the first gulp of his beer. He expected Vaughn to do the same, but noticed he was looking at something else. He followed his friend's gaze across the room to find out what so interesting, when he saw what it was he slammed his glass down on the table and laughed. "Well, it's refreshing to see you haven't changed much."  
"What are you talking about?" Vaughn asked, his attention back on Weiss.  
"Come on, I'm not blind! Sydney Bristow is over there," Weiss said, enjoying the guilty look that spread across Mike's face at being busted.  
"It's weird seeing her in public," Vaughn remarked.  
"Yeah," Weiss nodded along, "Want to go say hi?"  
"No!" Vaughn responded, a little too quickly.  
That was not the answer Eric had expected, he figured that after not seeing her for four years he would want to spend as much time with Sydney as possible. "Why not? You know SD-6 is gone right? She works with us now."  
"Yes I know, but she looks like she's having fun, we'd just be butting in," Vaughn said, knowing that was probably the most pitiful excuse ever.  
Weiss snorted amusedly, "I doubt she'd care."  
"What do you mean by that?" Vaughn questioned, confused.  
Weiss looked at him in disbelief. Was he kidding? What his friend really that stupid? Seeing no sign of the question being a joke, Weiss simply shook his head and responded, "Nothing." 

"Okay ready? One, two, three, go!" Will counted. Each of them grabbed for a shot and gulped it down.  
"I got that one!" Chase announced victoriously.  
"You so did not, Sydney did!" Francie piped in.  
"Oh what you think you could do better?" He taunted. She leered at him with a 'bring it on' look and stood up to take a place besides him.  
'He's with Weiss. Oh for god's sake get over it Syd!' she scolded herself as her second shot burned it's way down her throat. She sunk back down into the booth and rubbed her forehead. She usually avoided alcohol to keep herself alert, that and her small frame had made her already begin to feel the effects of the tequila. 'This was not a good idea!' she thought to herself. 

Weiss busied himself with telling about every hot woman he'd slept with, kissed, gone on a date with, and spotted at the grocery store since the last time they spoke. Vaughn really was trying to listen, but kept feeling his attention going across the room. With every drink the flame of jealousy in him seemed to grow a little more.....and they were on their fourth round now.   
"Here's to saving the world one terrorist at at time, " Weiss joked as their next round came.  
'To the future Mrs. Sydney Tippin,' He added silently, 'Oh for the love of god, you have got to **get over this!!!!**' 

Sydney was still sitting with her head in her hands trying desperately to block out the noise that was grinding in her ears. She looked up just in time to see the flash someone trip, which in turn brought everyone else tumbling down onto the floor, spilling tequila all over her, and tipping over the table in the process.  
"Alright that's it! All of you out! Now!" The bartender hollered across the room. Oh wonderful, now she was being thrown out of a bar.....classy. The six helped each other make it to the door and across the parking lot. They determined Amy and Sydney to be the least drunk and since Sydney's car was bigger she got stuck trucking everyone else home.   
"Oh! Syd, I forgot my purse!" Francie called from the back. Sydney nodded, closed the door, and headed back toward the bar trying to ignore how dizzy she felt. She made it almost to the door when she was stopped dead in her tracks by Eric Weiss standing outside the front door with a smug grin on his face, twirling Francie's purse in one hand.  
"You realize you have us ten years worth of blackmail material in there don't you Syd?" He said. She simply grabbed the purse and left, an action which amused him even more.  
Sydney stalked back to the car. "Fran here's your purse," she said, tossing it into the backseat and shutting the door behind her. "Lets get home before we end up in car accident somewhere," she said to Amy.  
"Uh hu," Amy nodded, "I see your game you know."  
"My game?" Sydney asked.  
"Yeah, forbidden fruit always looks more tempting right?" she said.  
"Huh?" Sydney repeated, genuinely confused.  
"I know you have feelings for my brother," Amy sighed in frustration.  
"What? Amy wait-"Sydney began.  
"Listen I don't care, but I swear to god if you do anything to hurt him I will make sure you regret it!" Amy said firmly, and stormed off. Sydney stood motionless for a minute, before sinking to the ground in frustration.  
"Unbelievable!" she muttered to herself. 

Vaughn splashed himself with some cold water from the faucet in the men's room, and stared intently at his reflection in the mirror. When Weiss had gone to chase after Sydney with the purse she left behind he had beat a hasty retreat to the bathroom. He even managed to make it there with out stumbling.........much. He knew it was childish, but he also knew that by the way he was feeling now he wouldn't be able to speak with her face to face without giving himself away. Even if my some miracle Sydney didn't notice, Weiss definitely would. He shook his head at the reflection and wondered where he might find a isolated corner to crawl into and spend eternity. 

**Eeep! How was that? Good? Bad?** 


	12. Chapter 11

As anyone would guess the next two days were spent nursing hangovers all around. On the first day after The Unfortunate Tequila Incident, Will and Samantha didn't even bother to leave their apartment to have breakfast with Sydney and Francine. Although this might be called The **Other** Unfortunate Tequila Incident, but let's not go there. Luckily everyone was sober and recovered by the third day.......the wedding day.  
Everything was set up in the church out front and the first few guests were just starting to arrive as Sydney wandered boredly through the hallway of the back offices.   
"Hey," Will said as he stepped out of the room that had been designated for the men in the wedding to change in. He smiled sheepishly and gestured to his navy blue tuxedo, "How's it look?"  
Sydney smiled, "You look great Will. Are you nervous?"  
"Insanely," He laughed.  
She laughed too and went over to straighten his collar, his eyes smiled at her as he pulled her into a tight hug. "You'll be fine," She said as they broke their hug.  
"Thanks," He said and went back into the room. Sydney sighed and opened the door to the garden in the back for some air. It was already occupied however, she pretty much knew who it was before he even turned around. They both stopped and stared at each other for a minute.  
"Hi," He finally said with an attempt at a smile.  
"Hi," She said back.  
He swallowed, "Listen about what happened that night. I wanted to apologize, I was insensitive. I'm sorry"  
She shifted around uneasily. "No, no........it was my fault. Let's just forget about it okay?" she said and regretted the words the moment the passed her lips.  
"Okay," He wasn't sure that he could just forget it though. They stood silently, the tension was enough to cut with a knife. Sydney sighed, it was awful. She would have preferred for none of this to ever have happened, for them to have been friends, colleagues, hell even momentary acquaintances would have been better than this awkwardness.  
"Well, I suppose I better go change," She said making an attempt at a chuckle to lighten the mood that came out sounding more like a squeak, "The isle awaits."  
His eyes feel to the ground and he nodded slowly. "Yeah.......good luck, Syd," He whispered softly.  
'What?' she thought to herself 'surely he doesn't think being a bride's maid isn't that difficult.'. "Don't worry, this'll be an easy mission," she laughed and turned back inside, missing the confused look he sent after her.

"I got those safety pins you wanted," Sydney announced coming into Samantha's dressing room.   
"Oh great!" Samantha said. Sydney knelt down and began pinning the bottom hem of her dress up. "Listen, Syd, Amy told me what she said to you the other night."  
Sydney stopped was she was doing and slowly looked up, "Sam, Will is my best friend-"  
"I know!" Samantha interrupted, "Believe me I ripped into her big time! Among other things I basically told her that thinking you suddenly decided you were in love with Will was an idiotic assumption and that she should apologize."  
Sydney looked at her compassionately, "Sam, Will loves you."  
"I know he does and I know that he used to be madly in love with you, but I love Will and I trust him, and of course I trust you........we've known each other since that last year in grad school, you were the one that introduced is even," Samantha said and leaned forward to hug Sydney, "Thank you for all your help with this wedding."  
Sydney laughed, "You're welcome." Their moment was interrupted by a knock on the door.  
"Honey, we're getting ready to start," Samantha's mother said peaking her head in the door.  
Samantha smiled at Sydney nervously, "This is it."  
Sydney smiled back reassuringly, "Let's go."  
  
Vaughn sat resignedly in the pew as the wedding began, his mind going back over and over again to Sydney's last words about how marrying Will would be "an easy mission". Ouch! That had definitely been a dagger through the heart. It was almost as if she was trying to rub it in that she was spoken for. Of course that was ridiculous, he never knew Sydney to try intentionally to hurt someone, then again he never knew her to kiss another man when she was engaged either. Music starting and people standing reminded him of the wedding that he had not been watching. He stared intently at the back of the man in front of him's head until the music stopped and everyone sat back down. He took a deep breath to steady himself and raised his eyes to the alter.  
"We are gathered here today to witness the joining of Chase Barenger and Amy Tippin, and William Tippin and Samantha Suttle......" the minister recited off the traditional beginning of the ceremony, but only two words could be heard in Vaughn's mind, 'A bridesmaid?!?!'

Sydney stood up at the alter with Francie and the girls in identical lavender, A-line, dresses. From the march down the isle to the final kiss it was all around the perfect double wedding. The two couples turned the face their audience as they stood and clapped proudly. Sydney also turned to smile at the audience like a good bridesmaid. Even though she didn't want to she found her eyes scanning the audience for a certain person. When she found him he was standing to applaud along with everyone else, but he was staring straight at her with a blank look on his face. No, actually he wasn't staring at her, he was staring next to her........Will and Samantha.  
'What the heck?' she thought to herself, two seconds before an A-bomb of realization hit her.

Under an overcast sky of rain packed clouds that threatened at any minute to brim over and spill their contents, cars carried a wedding party the five miles across town from the church to the ballroom where the reception was being held. Two of the passengers sat in frozen disbelief. All of this because of a misunderstanding? How's that for irony?  
As they arrived and the reception started Sydney walked around mechanically chatting with guests, congratulating the happy couples, and so forth. After some aimless wandering she ended up standing in front of a big glass window in the front of the bar staring out at nothing. Someone bumping into her eventually snapped her out of her stupor, and she spotted the figure standing at the top of the hill in the park across the street.   
She didn't any memory of leaving the ballroom, but knew that she eventually ended up at the top of the hill. They stood side by side without speaking or even acknowledging that the other was there.  
"You thought I was marrying Will," She said more as a statement than a question.  
"Yeah, pretty much," He said.  
She nodded slowly and added bluntly, "I thought you were mad about my mother."  
"Your mother?" He said, this time turning toward her, " No! Not at all. You thought..........you could have just asked me."  
"You could have too," She pointed out.  
He looked forward yet again, "True."  
"Why didn't you ask me?" She said.  
He shrugged, "A lot of reasons, stupidity mainly...........and I figured there wasn't anyway I could ask without making it blatantly obvious how I felt about it."  
"And how's that?" She asked.  
"Surely you must know?" She gave no answer and kept her gaze firmly in front of her, "Sydney, I felt like I was going insane. I don't know which was worse waiting for years to see you again or coming back and thinking you were with someone else. I know what sounds incredibly selfish, but I can't change how I feel about you. You were what got me through it."  
She slowly took in an released a silent, but shaky breath, "Not selfish..........stupid, yes but not selfish."  
He nodded, "Well, I'm not arguing there. If whatever has happened in the last few days hurt you in anyway, I'm sorry, I **never** wanted to see you hurt again."  
"Well it did!" She yelled angrily, "And 'sorry' really doesn't do anything to help me, Vaughn."  
"I don't know what to say," He said.  
"There's nothing you can say," she said bitterly. She watched his devastated expression out of the corner of her eye, and waited for a few more agonizing seconds. "Although...............the part where you said that I got you through it was nice," She said, ending her torture.  
He turned to her with a confused look, as she let a big grin spread it's way across her face. "That was not funny, Syd!" He said shaking his head.  
She could no longer hold back her giggles at that, "You should have seen your face."  
He rolled his eyes at her, but laughed all the same, "Yeah well.......you're just lucky I love you so much-"  
His statement was cut off by a loud thunder clap in the background, Sydney's expression feel into a challenging look. "So now you love me huh? That's one hell of an assumption Agent Vaughn."  
He responded, "Yeah it is, but..............it's also the one thing that we both assumed correctly."  
She studied him for a few minutes as more thunder claps cut through the sky and the first few raindrops began to fall. "Good point," she nodded and asked softly, "so do you love me?"  
His smile faded as he sent her a gaze that seemed to pierce strait into he soul. "I think you know the answer to that," was all he got out before they were in each other's arms, all of their passion flowing free in a tide of long overdue kisses.


	13. Epilogue

Assumption is defined as something taken for granted or accepted as true without proof, and as we've seen too many assumptions can create a mess of epic proportions, but luckily way fate seemed to take care of things in the end. Even here there still remains unanswered questions and the end of this story is yet the beginning of another, but all that's really important here is that as Sydney Bristow and Michael Vaughn stood on top of that hill in the rain, with their friends at the reception long forgotten, for the first time in ages she felt warm and he felt at home.....with love they were at home. 

**Okay so this was my first real romance fic. How was it? Was the ending good?**


End file.
